McGinty Mountain Trail

Jamul, California

Rising like a scruffy whaleback above a sea of luxury homes, McGinty Mountain hosts a rich but circumspect treasure of botanical oddities. Several rare and endangered plant species make their home here on soils derived from a relatively uncommon form of bedrock called gabbro. More than half of California’s remaining specimens of Dehesa beargrass cling to the mountain’s rocky spine. The endemic San Diego thornmint, its habitat reduced by 90 percent due to urbanization over the last century, survives here, as does San Miguel savory, Perry’s tetracoccus, and Gander’s butterweed. Some of these plants are believed to be relict species, once common but now almost squeezed out of existence by gradual climate changes occurring over the past 10,000 years or more.

"Rising like a scruffy whaleback above a sea of luxury homes, McGinty Mountain hosts a rich but circumspect treasure of botanical oddities. Several rare and endangered plant species make their home here on soils derived from a relatively uncommon form of bedrock called gabbro. More than half of California’s remaining specimens of Dehesa beargrass cling to the mountain’s rocky spine. The endemic San Diego thornmint, its habitat reduced by 90 percent due to urbanization over the last century, survives here, as does San Miguel savory, Perry’s tetracoccus, and Gander’s butterweed. Some of these plants are believed to be relict species, once common but now almost squeezed out of existence by gradual climate changes occurring over the past 10,000 years or more."

Recent Trail Reviews

This was my first hike in like a year and needless to say there were several times my dog and I had to stop and catch our breath. It was a good workout and had some great views. I went off trail and found a weird man dug cave. I was tempted to explore but I realized that was dumb and moved on. There was another one near the summit that looked more like a coyote den. I'm still curious about what the other one was.
I didn't make it the full five miles because I thought the trail was done once I hit the first peak. I found out I was wrong from another hiker on my way back down.
Overall, I hike 2.2 miles. 1 mile up hill, another mile back down.